EIN Civil Society Briefing May 2025 – Poland, Georgia and Romania

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On May 27th, 2025, EIN held its latest civil society briefing for Permanent Representations of the Council of Europe, ahead of the 1531st Committee of Ministers Human Rights Meeting which will be held from 10th to 12th June 2025. The briefing focused on the following cases: 

  • Tsintsabadze v. Georgia group of cases, presented by Khatuna Kvinskhadze, Strategic Litigation Lawyer, Social Justice Centre (SJC) 

 

This group of cases concerns the refusal by Polish authorities to allow five same-sex couples to marry, based on national legislation limiting marriage to unions between a man and a woman (Article 18 of the Constitution and Article 1 of the Family and Custody Code). The applicants, all in stable relationships, were denied access to marriage by civil registry offices and domestic courts in 2017. The Court found that Poland had overstepped its margin of appreciation and failed to fulfil its positive obligation to provide a legal framework for the recognition and protection of same-sex unions, resulting in a violation of the applicants’ right to respect for their private and family life (Article 8). 

In her presentation, our Polish colleague highlighted that, although the government has expressed willingness to implement the Przybyszewska judgment by introducing registered partnerships, no substantive legislative progress has been made. Draft laws were published and underwent extensive public consultation, yet they remain unapproved by the Council of Ministers and have not been submitted to Parliament. Moreover, the drafts offer only limited recognition and fail to protect the rights of LGBTIQ+ parents and their children. Key concerns include a lack of political consensus, risk of presidential veto or constitutional referral, and the continued absence of interim non-legislative measures to reduce discrimination. These shortcomings persist despite growing public support for legal recognition of same-sex couples.

Recommendations for the implementation of Przybyszewska and Others v. Poland group of cases

The Love Does Not Exclude Association, alongside the Campaign Against Homophobia Association and the Lambda Warsaw Association, requested the Committee of Ministers to call on the Polish authorities to: 

  1. Introduce rapidly marriage equality or a law on registered partnerships;

  2. Protect in law the relationship between LGBTIQ+ parents and their children;

  3. Present a real timeline of adopting the the Civil Partnerships Acts recognising the conditions for recognition and protection of same-sex unions;  

  4. Ensure that the scope of the draft acts be compliant with the Convention standards; 

  5. Reach an agreement within the ruling coalition in line with the Convention standards; 

  6. Continue to actively engage with LGBTIQ+ organisations, legal experts, and affected individuals in the legislative process, ensuring that proposed reforms reflect lived experiences and meet real needs. 

 
 

Tsintsabadze v. Georgia group of cases

This group of cases concerns numerous substantive and procedural violations of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention in relation to deaths in custody, torture, ill-treatment, and excessive use of force between 1999 and 2014, as well as ineffective investigations into these incidents up to 2022. The violations, mostly attributable to law enforcement and prison staff, include failures to conduct prompt, independent, and thorough investigations, the absence of forensic and medical expertise, and shortcomings in judicial proceedings, including lenient sentencing. In nine friendly settlements, the authorities acknowledged similar procedural violations and expressed committment to conduct effective investigations. 

In her presentation, Khatuna Kvinskhadze underscored the new negative turn an already deeply entrenched impunity for law enforcement ill-treatment in Georgia has taken: instead of proceeding with establishing a zero-violence and a zero-tolerance for violence culture, as the Court’s judgments in this group require them to, the Georgian authorities have rather allowed and/or condoned, in the current grim political context, the weaponisation of violence, as evidenced by recent patterns of violence against peaceful protesters, along other alarming measures taken that undermine the prevalence of democratic values and the rule of law in the country. In this context, Ms Kvinskhadze highlighted the escalation of systemic abuses from 2019 to early 2025, culminating in alarming reports of physical and psychological torture by masked and unidentifiable police units. Investigations into these abuses have been fundamentally flawed — characterised by misclassification of crimes, lack of victim recognition, exclusion of senior officials from scrutiny, and neglect of critical evidence. Particularly concerning is the upcoming abolition of the Special Investigation Service (SIS), which she described as a deliberate dismantling of accountability mechanisms, transferring sensitive investigations to the politically compromised Prosecutor’s Office and thereby extinguishing any realistic prospect of justice.

Recommendations for the implementation of Tsintsabadze v. Georgia group of cases

The Social Justice Center, alongside the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, and the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre Centre, asked the Committee of Ministers to call on the Georgian authorities to: 

  1. Immediately cease weaponising ill-treatment against peaceful protesters; 

  2. Refrain from abolishing the SIS and ensure effective investigation of mass ill-treatment against peaceful protesters, including accountability of the highest state officials; 

  3. Urgently equip all Special Task Department officers, including Riot Police officers, with identifying insignia.

In addition, civil society requested the Committee to:

  1. Include this group of cases on the agenda of each upcoming DH meeting, and require the Georgian Government to submit action plans at each meeting;

  2. Use diplomatic means to raise these issues with the Georgian authorities as a matter of urgency.

Finally, Ms Kvinskhadze highlighted the link, in the current alarming circumstances of democratic backsliding in Georgia, of the Tsintsabadze group of cases with the Makarashvili and Others v. Georgia  group of cases, concerning systemic flaws in Georgia’s legal framework for administrative offences and the lack of judicial oversight over police misconduct during public assemblies. Although acknowledging the initially different scope of the two groups, the speaker argued, in line with the presented Rule 9.2 submission, that disconnecting the two problematics, which have now become interconnected as per the current circumstances, would prevent the Committee of Ministers from pursuing effective solutions for the systemic problem of police violence in Georgia. The Committee of Minsters were thus kindly also recommended to: 

  1. Transfer the Makarashvili group to the enhanced supervision procedure; and   

  2. Request an urgent action plan from the Government detailing the general measures required to fully implement the Court’s judgments in that group. 

 

This group of cases concerns systemic deficiencies in the legal protection of adults with intellectual disabilities or mental health conditions, resulting in violations of Articles 2, 8, and 13 of the Convention. In Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu, the Court found both substantive and procedural violations of Article 2 due to inadequate medical and social care, the lack of an effective investigation into the applicant’s death, and the absence of a legal framework allowing independent scrutiny of alleged violations of the rights of persons with disabilities (violation of Article 13 taken together with Article 2). In N. (No. 2), the Court identified a violation of Article 8, finding that the only available protective measure—guardianship – entailed legal incapacitation and failed to provide a proportionate, individualised approach, excluding the affected person’s needs and wishes from decision-making processes. 

Georgiana Pascu gave a shocking account of the situation of persons in placement centers and psychiatric hospitals. As highlighted by the speaker, serious ongoing failures in implementation of the general measures required persist, particularly concerning the treatment and protection of persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. Unannounced monitoring visits by CLR revealed severe abuse in state-funded facilities, prompting anti-trafficking investigations by DIICOT. Despite some positive developments — such as adapted procedures in hearings and cooperation with central authorities, to which the Committee of Ministers’ decisions contributed to in the previous years — victims remain inadequately protected, often relocated without proper safeguards. Structural problems persist, including the absence of a legal framework for hybrid institutions, staff shortages, poor infrastructure, and uncoordinated social, medical, and legal systems. Authorities frequently ignore ECtHR case law, and no effective protocols exist for representing vulnerable individuals. CLR also reported institutional retaliation, incomplete data on guardianship and deaths, and a lack of transparency and accountability in prosecution decisions, underscoring a systemic failure to meet the standards set by the Court’s judgment.

Recommendations for the implementation of Centre for Legal Resources on behalf of Valentin Câmpeanu v. Romania group of cases

The Center for Legal Resources ask the Committee of Ministers to call on the Romanian authorities to: 

  1. Ensure that CLR and other NGOs are granted unrestricted access for unannounced visits to all medical and social institutions; 

  2. Amend the ANPDPD funding framework to explicitly include the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities and remove barriers for human rights NGOs; 

  3. Introduce a binding obligation for all service providers to notify the death of persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, regardless of whether the death occurred in a psychiatric hospital or center; 

  4. Guarantee effective and independent legal representation for persons with disabilities by ensuring public defenders are properly trained and supervised by Bar Associations; 

  5. Urgently implement the provisions of Law 100/2024, including the publication of data on beneficiaries, the activation of the National Register, and the finalisation of the cooperation protocol with CLR promised in July 2023 to ensure the organisation’s access to residential centers; 

  6. Provide accessible community-based and community psychiatric services; 

  7. Ensure the accreditation and rigorous oversight of all hybrid institutions operating in both medical and social care sectors; 

  8. Establish a centralised tracking system to monitor the situation of persons with mental disabilities, particularly when they are victims of abuse; 

  9. Provide targeted training to staff involved in victim management and ensure trauma-informed practices are applied, including the prevention of repeated relocations of vulnerable individuals; 

  10. Strengthen inter-institutional coordination through the creation, application, and flexibility of cooperation protocols between social services, law enforcement, and health authorities; 

  11. Support the National Institute for the Training of Lawyers in developing specialised training courses and practical guides on representing people with disabilities and ensuring access to justice; 

  12. Mandate and build the capacity of the National College of Social Workers to deliver continuous training on interventions in situations of severe vulnerability, supported by scientifically validated national guidelines; 

  13. Ensure all relevant institutions actively implement the National Action Plan for Mental Health 2024–2029, engage in a national case tracking programme, and maintain consistent collaboration with civil society actors.